The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-03-22, Page 20a Page 20,--Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesd4, March 22, 1978.
Tracks & traits point to cougar
BRUCE COUNTY NOW
COUGAR COUNTRY?
According to some Wiarton
area residents, Bruce County may
be playing host to one and
possibly more cougars.
The last sightings of a native
Ontario Cougar took place near
Creemore in 1884.
Residents 20 miles north of
Wiarton said they had seen a big
cougar on two occasions in late
August and. October.
A cow and three calves have
been killed in the past four
months and according to George
Williamson, a Wiarton. area
farmer, the killings appear to be
the work of a cougar. Williamson
is a former cowboy who has had
experience in the back country of
Alberta and British Columbia.
Last August farmer Gord West
found two calves dead with their
entrails eaten. A dead cow was
found sitting on its haunches with
the mark of a heavy blow on one
side of its head. "I know big cats.
Eating the guts is a delicacy for
them," said Williamson in a story
in Ontario Out of Doors magazine
by John Wright.
Other area farmers have lost
livestock in a way similar to the
losses suffered by West.
Officials at the Ministry of
Natural Resources office in Owen
Sound claim that the animal that
people have seen is likely to be a
big bob cat or lynx. Concerning
the cattle deaths, a maverick bear
has been blamed. No bear has
been turned up and even the
ministry people seem to find this
theory hard to swallow.
Williamson said he had seen
the cougar a number of years ago
while deer hunting but told no
one° to protect it from hunters.
He told Ontario Out of Doors
News that he first knew about the
cougar ten years agowhena.
father of three boys °told him his.
sons had seen a creature which
looked like a lion,
The Wiarton sighting is not an
isolated case. Reports of the
sighting of a big cat near Barrie in
August were confirmed by natur-
al resources officers from the
Maple district. The officers would
only say thatthe tracks were
made by a large cat. They
stopped short of calling it ,a
cougar, _.
One man near Wiarton said he
saw something dash through his
garden and found what he called
huge cat tracks in the soft earth.
Photosvof the' prints were•, not,
The Employees of
Preston
Metal & Roofin
Products Ltd.
(Cambridge)
To
Dental PIan7
These employees and their families have good
reason to smile ... they have the best preven-
tive dental plan available today. Everybody
agrees good teeth are one of the most impor-
tant factors in good_ health. The Blue Cross
Dental Plan 7 was designed to provide _basic
dental treatment to group subscribers includ-
ing such services as examinations, fillings and
x-rays, through extractions and anaesthesia.
"As your Ontario: Blue Cross
representative I am pleased to
add my personal welcome, and
look forward to serving you
along with the many others in
this region already enjoying
the protection of a variety of
Blue 'Cross Plans."
Mike Keegan
659 King Street East, Suite 208, Kitchener, Ontario
N2G 2M4 (519) 578-4700
CROSS
A DIVISION OF THE ONTAPIO HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
r.n
enough to convince officials at the
ministry.
• According to an Owen Sound
cub leader, he trailed the prints of
a big cat while snowshoeing in the.
winter. He claimed to have found
one of the cat's' dens.
In late October, Jim Hardman,
owner of a farm about 20 miles
north of Wiarton saw what he
claimed to be a cougar "dark
brown in colour andwith a long
tail". Returning home to check
two calves he had in a back
pasture, Hardman found one of
them dead with its entrails eaten.
The Ministry of Natural Re-
sources say it is possible for a
cougar to live in the peninsula but
they 'say they have no evidence.
There are stringent laws pro-
tecting the eastern panther. This
species, thought to have been
extinct in this .part of Canada until
a Manitoba sighting a few years
ago, was protected by the Ontario
Endangered Species Act in
March 1977. Not even is farmer
can kill one of the animals to
protect his property.
The law provides a $3,000 fine
and or six months imprisonment
for anyone killing one of these big
cats.
A small population of black
.panthers has been found living in
New Brunswick. They were
thought to have been extinct by
the time New Brunswick was
settled by white men in the early
1800's.
4-H Council
BY DENNIS MacGILLIVRAY
The last meeting . of the Bruce
County 4-H Council was held in
the O.M.A.F. office in Walkerton
on February 13th.
The meeting opened with the
4-11 pledge and roll call followed
with members answering to the
question = who's your valentine?
Dennis MacGillivray is the new
press reporter. Thanks to Diane
McCormick for all her work as our
press reporter since last fall.
We decided that there will be a
celebration of our mascot's birth-
day on April 29th in the Ripley
Town Hall. Owasso (our mascot)
will be one year old. This will be a
dance workshop from 9.00 p.m. to
1.00 a.m. and the music is- going
to be supplied by Roy Penning-
ton.
, The return of West Virginia
delegates was mentioned during
the course of the meeting. They
will be visiting us from the 25th to
the 31st ,of July.
It was decided . within the
council that' leadership projects
could be executed by fulfilling
some specific requirements des-
ignated by our co-ordinator, Ran-
dy Willick. These projects will be'
open to any council member
willing to meet the requirements.
Since so much enthusiasm was
+r_ 'shown last year for the trip to
College Royal, this year again
there will be buses going to
Guelph. The cost will be $2.00 per
person and the date is Sunday,
March 12th.
A fun day has been planned for
March 22nd at the Walkerton
District Secondary . School. The
time is from 2.00 p.m. to 8.00
p.m. and we have the use, of three
gymnasiums and the cafeteria.
The cost? Only $2.00 per person
for six hours of fun and great
games - volleyball, dodgeball,
relays, etc., etc. films, discus-
sion, and Kentucky Fried Chicly',.
en. Invitations are going to Huron
and Perth Counties and hopeful-
ly, people who met at the last two
years conference will be there. Be
sure to come and re -unite with old
friends as well as make new ones,
The next meeting of the 4-H
council will be March 22nd, 12.00
sharp at the O.M.A.F. office in
Walkerton. If you're - on the
council, we need all the help we
can get to make our fun day a
success.